Strange Town
by Yuuki223
Summary: "You never got to tell me your name…" Cecil said. His voice was pained, and he hesitated after he said name. He looked away from me, and down at my shoes. I just stared at him. I was confused, very confused. Obviously he had met me before and expected me to remember him, or something like that. (Cecil/Carlos Slight AU chapter titles will follow the episode its about)
1. Pilot

**This story was inspired by the story ****_Welcome to Night Vale _****by cupidity11**

**This is Carlos/Cecil, rated T for possible adult themes and language (though I doubt I need it)**

* * *

I glanced around the van at the excited group around me. I sighed and leaned back in the leather seat, focusing on a distant cactus. I listened to them as they chatted, talking about the mission. I felt a sudden panic as we neared the town. I glanced at my watch, and just stared at it for a while, running though the items we'd brought in my head. I had the feeling like I was forgetting something. My eyes traced to my ring finger by instinct. The ring was gone. I sighed and looked at the ceiling of the van, in sudden regret for forgetting it. _Oh, that's right. I don't need it anymore_, I thought. I felt bare without it, though. I looked back at my watch and clenched my jaw. I glanced at Lilly, who had obviously asked me a question. I winced at her, since I didn't know what she asked. She just sighed.

"What do you think this place will be like?" She asked. I shrugged.

"From what we've heard from the scientists who've spent a week there, I'd say it's pretty intense." Samuel said. I nodded. The radio gave a sudden loud shriek, causing us all to cover our ears. Samantha screamed, since it startled her. The screeching suddenly stopped, leaving me with a pounding headache.

_Hello listeners. To start things off I've been asked to read this brief notice: the city council announces the opening of a new dog park at the corner of Earl and Summerset near the Ralph's. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. It is possible you will see hooded figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park. The fence is electrified and highly dangerous. Try not to look at the dog park, and especially do not look for any period of time at the hooded figures. The dog park will not harm you._

"Did you change the station?" I asked nervously. I hoped the screeching wasn't the station being changed.

"No it's still on the same station, same frequency. I guess this just overrode it?" William, our driver, said nervously. I nodded. I looked at the sign for Night Vale. It had many scratches, and parts of the paint were missing. It read "Welcome to Night Vale. Pop 0." I became nervous. On the other side of the sign, it said "Goodbye, Night Vale. Population 1045."

"Did you guys see the sign?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah. It said Welcome to Night Vale population 1045. Why?" Samantha said.

"Did you all see that?" I asked everyone else.

"Why?" Will said, looking at me through the rearview window.

"I saw Pop 0." I said.

"Huh. Did you take your glasses off, or could you not see through your tears?" Thomas asked, his voice a degrading manor. I clenched my teeth. He and my wife had a secret affair for the entire time I was married to her and, being the child that I am, I sobbed instead of doing something about it. _I'm never going to live that down,_ I thought. We drove through town silently and arrived at the lab. I got out, irked and frustrated, and grabbed my camera. A man with a lanyard and tape recorder came up to us, quickly and timidly.

"Hi. I'm from Night Vale radio, and I want to ask a few questions."

"Sure." I said, stopping and leaning on the van.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. I winced.

"We were sent here to investigate the strange occurrences of Night Vale." I said. The boy cocked his head and looked very confused, so I added, "We're scientists."

"Oh that's good. How long do you think you'll be staying?" He asked.

"Hard to say. It really depends on when we find what we're looking for." I said. He nodded. He waved, and left us to our business. I turned back to the van and opened the door, tossing my camera into the passenger seat.

"Where are you going?" Sammy asked.

"I'm going to take a picture of the sign and see if it's the same on my camera as I can see it. Then maybe I could show it to you." I told her, getting into the van.

"Aw, you're just going to go cry now, aren't you?" Thomas called.

"Be an adult!" I heard Will shout to him. I shut the door and buckled up. The van was still running since we'd all just gotten out. After a few minutes of driving, the man on the radio intrigued me.

_A new man came into town today. Who is he? What does he want from us? Why his perfect and beautiful haircut? Why his perfect and beautiful coat? He says he is a scientist. Well, we have all been scientists at one point or another in our lives. But why now? Why here? And just what does he plan to do with all those breakers and humming electrical instruments in that lab he is renting—the one next to Big Ricco's Pizza? No one does a slice like Big Ricco. No one._

I blinked. Only Tom and I had hair, and Will had a beard so who could he be talking about? It should have freaked me out, considering he could be talking about me. Was it his honey-like voice? I got to the sign just as I was wondering what was going on, and I pulled over. I looked at it and rolled down the window. It was the same as I'd seen it before. I took a picture of it, and it came out the same as I was seeing it.

"I hope this works." I mumbled. I drove back to the lab just as quickly as I left, and parked smoothly.

"Did you get the picture?" Samantha asked me. I nodded. I showed her the picture, and I noticed her expression changed.

"This is what it said to you, huh?" She mumbled.

"So you can see it?" I asked.

"Yeap. Pop 0…" She mumbled. Will came over and took the camera from her. He blinked and looked at me. He scratched his head and shrugged. I took the camera back and powered it off; placing it neatly within my suitcase I'd left in the van.

"You have a town meeting this afternoon." Will said to me, grabbing one of the last machines.

"Why me?" I moaned. I was the best at public speaking out of the group, since I could project my voice, but I hadn't gone to any public gatherings to talk about work that wasn't even mine. Will's close friend, Steve Carlsburg, if I remembered right,

"Someone stopped by and asked about you. She seemed to believe you were the head of this experiment. Also, the intern at the radio station came to you first. You might as well ride this to fame." He said to me. He began to eye me as if expecting me to remain silent. I didn't feel a sense of anger for some strange reason though. It was more of flattery, or just a childish sense of pride.

"I'm not stealing credit for your theory," I said, "but I will go to the town meeting and speak for you."

"That's what we like to hear, Carlos." Will said, smiling at me. I winced back at him. _He really thought I was just going to steal his work._ I thought. Samantha grabbed my wrist and spun me around. She pointed at the big building in the center of town.

"That's the building I want to check out. It looks really weird. We'll let Tom and Will finish setting up in here. Do you mind?" She asked.

"No, no it's fine." I told her, smiling at her. She gave a wide grin and began to drag me. I began to mumble about us taking the van, but she just shushed me.

"We have a while before the meeting at City Hall. I figured it might be nice just to walk around town and take a look at that giant building, you know?" She asked me. I winced. We had walked only a few blocks when I saw someone watching us carefully. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at a man. He had black, short hair except for near the top of his head, where it was long and bleached blonde, but not long enough to get in his eyes. His hair was brushed neatly on his head, so it wouldn't come onto his face. He had some stubble on his face, like he just forgot to shave this morning, but it managed to make him handsome. He wore purple cat-eye glasses, and on his forehead was a tattoo of a closed eye. He wore a white shirt with a dark purple bowtie, and a black vest. His shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, revealing lavender colored tentacle-like tattoos on his arms. He waved to us, and we waved back. He then jogged over to us and smiled.

"Hello. My name is Cecil. I'm the community radio host." He said, extending his hand. I was reluctant to shake it, since he was the one that gave the strange and out-of-the-blue compliments. Samantha took his hand and smiled.

"I'm Samantha." She said. He looked at me as if he were expecting me to say something. I winced and sighed. He cocked his head at me, and the expression on his face stirred something from deep within. I wasn't sure if it was fear, or maybe affection, but either way it discomforted me. I shifted a little and coughed, looking down the road. I felt his eyes burning into the side of my face, so I just sighed.

"Well, I guess I'm left huh?" I mumbled, looking at the ground, "My name is—."

"We have to go." Samantha said, tugging on my arm. Her voice had a sense of distress and fear. I looked at her. Her eyes were widened slightly and she was staring at Cecil. I glanced at him while Samantha tugged me away. I didn't notice much so I didn't know why she was freaking out. After we got a couple of blocks away I forced her to stop.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked her, tugging my arm free.

"The tattoo on his forehead changed." She said, "When you were talking, the eye opened."

"So? What if—wait, you said it opened?" I asked her, confused. She nodded.

"Well that's one thing on the list of stuff we don't know." I mumbled. She nodded. I glanced over at seven people standing there and watching us. A man in a gas mask and riot gear armor tapped my shoulder and pointed to them. Samantha stood there, confused slightly, but I began to walk to them. I don't know how or why I knew that's what the man was saying, but I did. The group of seven nodded to me, all in unison. They walked inside of City Hall, and I followed. Samantha stayed outside, nervously playing with her shirt, telling me it was a bad idea to follow them since they were very creepy.

"Are you aware that writing utensils are banned here?" They asked, all in unison. I jumped a little at the sudden topic.

"I'm sorry?" I asked them.

"Oh how rude of us." They said, "We are the City Council. Did you know about the ban?"

"Uh…No. I never heard that rule, considering we arrived about twenty minutes ago." I said, "But if you wouldn't mind, I would like to be able to use them purely for research notes, if you didn't—."

"You and your scientists are not a part of Night Vale. Yet." City Council said in unison, "Therefore, most of our laws do not apply to you."

"Such as…?" I asked, worried.

"Well, you can use writing utensils." City Council said, "We will send you a list later on today. Expect it to appear under your bed."

I felt a sense of distress at that, considering that's not the normal means of mail delivery. I nodded. City Council then hissed at me, and I backed away from them. Their hissing got quieter, but it was still there. From the way I moved, I judged that they wanted me to leave. I exited City Hall, and stared at Samantha. She was smiling at me, nervously scratching her arm.

"What did they want?" She asked me. I shrugged it off. I felt someone staring at me, and I glanced over. It was Cecil. He was just standing there, closer than we'd been before, but not too far away. It caused shivers to run down my spine, but it wasn't because I was _afraid._ Why did I not fear him? What was he doing to me? Was it his voice? _Was it his voice?!_

"You never got to tell me your name…" Cecil said. His voice was pained, and he hesitated after he said name. He looked away from me, and down at my shoes. I just stared at him. I was confused, very confused. Obviously he had met me before and expected me to remember him, or something like that.

"Do you know me?" I asked him. He suddenly looked up at me, a combination of excitement and fear was in his eyes. He read my expression, and disappointment filled his eyes.

"Kinda, sorta…" He said. Cecil and I stared at each other for about twenty minutes before he coughed and scratched the back of his head.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. Cecil shifted his weight slightly.

"Well," He started out, his voice discomforted, "I kinda figured you heard my name over the radio, though I guess it's understandable since I didn't introduce myself, and also you look almost exactly like my old high school… friend that left Night Vale."

"Ah. Was his name, perhaps, Jeff?" I asked. Cecil's eyes lit up.

"You know him?" He asked. I nodded.

"We were roommates before I came out here. When I told him I was going with William to Night Vale, he shuddered and mumbled about how I was crazy to go with him." I said, sighing, "So far nothing has made me extremely anxious to leave."

Cecil smiled, widely. His grin made me smirk a little, since he was so happy that I was staying. Samantha began to hum slightly, a soft tune to herself. Cecil turned to her and winced.

"Sorry." He said simply, turning to her, "Did you come with William and this man?"

"It's William's idea to study this city. The outside world hears so much about this place that William wanted to see how this place ticked." Samantha said, folding her arms over her chest. Cecil smiled at her. It seemed more like a wince. Samantha had daggers in her eyes. I winced as well.

"Well, isn't it this man that's giving the announcement? It should start in a few minutes anyway." Cecil asked again. When I glanced behind us, I saw people filing into City Hall. It amazed me at how they just knew it was now. There hadn't even been an announcement, I think.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean it's his—." Samantha started. I tapped her arm and began to enter the building. She sighed and followed me. We walked to the front of the rows and rows of chairs, and stood there. It was a little intimidating, considering it was the whole town. Cecil took his seat near the front, by an old woman who had brought corn muffins. I cleared my throat after getting a nod from the government agents standing in the back, and I nodded at them.

"Hello there, Night Vale, my name is Carlos." I began, "As you were told, scientists have moved into the lab by Big Rico's Pizza. This is entirely true. We are here because your community, by far, is the most scientifically interesting community we've ever come across. Our main purpose here is to see if we can put a lid on all of the paranormal activity going on in this town, and subsequently make a list of everything abnormal. We will also be trying to protect the community from strange happenings."

"What about the plane disappearing and re-appearing in our gym?" One of the people asked. A murmur of support was heard through the crowd. I winced, but it seemed more like a grin to the town.

"We will be…looking into that. At this moment in time we have very little to no research on this place, considering the fact we've just moved here. I hope to answer all of your fears and questions soon, but for right now any and all questions must be kept to yourselves." I replied, feeling anxious. These types of meetings could quickly turn into an interrogation, and I wasn't sure if that's what we needed right now. The people seemed to not suspect anything, all nodding and standing to try some muffins from the old woman. Cecil grinned at me again, before ducking out after taking a muffin. The old woman hobbled to me and handed me a muffin. I stepped down from the podium and took a small bite.

"Hello, Carlos. I am Old Woman Josie. Do you like the muffins?" She asked me.

"They're pretty good." I said, "Do you bake often?"

"If that's in reference to the salt, the Angels took all of it on a holy mission. I only heard about the meeting this morning, and I didn't have time to go get more." She said, her voice sweet but slightly defensive.

"No, no that's not why I asked. I just wanted to know if the others could be expecting baked goods every once in a while." I said, smiling.

"Ah. Well, if you like I could do that." She said, patting my arm and hobbling away to go talk with some other people. Samantha and I began to head out, since our job was done. The man on the radio stopped me.

_That new scientist — we now know is named Carlos — called a town meeting. He has a square jaw, and teeth like a military cemetery. His hair is perfect, and we all hate, and despair, and love that perfect hair in equal measure. Old Woman Josie brought corn muffins which were decent, but lacked salt. She said the Angels had taken her salt for a Godly mission, and she hadn't yet gotten around to buying more. Carlos told us that we are __by far__the most scientifically interesting community in the U.S., and he had come to study just what is going on around here. He grinned, and everything about him was perfect, and I fell in love instantly. Government agents from a vague yet menacing agency were in the back, watching. I fear for Carlos. I fear for Night Vale. I fear for anyone caught between what they know and what they don't yet know that they don't know._

Samantha caught up to me and smiled. She elbowed me softly.

"Someone's got a stalker!" She teased. I stared at her, locking my jaw. It didn't bother me that Cecil fell in love with me, or that Samantha was teasing me, it bothered me that she was implying that Cecil could be a stalker, or at least someone not to be trusted. I can't explain why. I walked outside into the blistering heat, and began to make my way to the lab. Samantha was walking behind me a few paces and mumbling to herself. I wasn't exactly paying attention, but when I got to the lab Will was pale. He was breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. He shook his head. He looked at me, and fear was in his eyes. My brows creased in confusion.

"I can't stay here." He said, breathless.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, coming closer. He shrieked and shook his head.

"Follow me." Tom said. He grabbed hold of Will and dragged him along. There were a handful of scientists whose names I didn't know following us. Obviously the second group arrived. We got to the house just behind the elementary school. I stared at it, and it unnerved me.

"It's not there." Will whispered, trembling. I glanced over at him.

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"I threw a rock, and it vanished. No windows broke. Nothing happened. The rock just disappeared." He whispered again. I shifted slightly.

"Carlos, I'm leaving you in charge here. I can't stand it here. I hear whispering, someone telling me to leave. I think I should listen to it." Will said, turning on his heels and walking away quickly. He tossed the van keys back to me, and I caught them. He broke into a run, ignoring the used car we were towing behind the first van. I blinked a couple of times before turning my attention to the house. I picked up a pebble and threw it at the top window. Sure enough, the pebble went through the window. It didn't shatter, nor did the pebble bounce off. I blinked in slight confusion. I took out my notebook and made a quick statement about this house, turning to the group.

"Who wants to go knock on the door?" I asked.

* * *

After returning to the lab, having no volunteers to go knock on the door and being antsy about it myself, I got a call from the monitoring station near rout 800. I was hesitant, since I had no idea how they had my cell phone number, but I picked up the phone anyway.

"You need to come down, right now." The man said.

"Alright…" I said, hanging up. I looked at Samantha.

"I'm needed in the monitoring station. I'll be back soon." I said. She nodded. I stepped out to the used car that we'd unhooked and got in. I turned the car on and Cecil's voice greeted me.

_ …__and swore that he would discover the truth. No one responded because it's really hard to take him seriously in that headdress of his._

I turned off the radio. I drove quietly to the station and got out, being greeted by one of my scientists. He began to speak very quickly, in jumbled up sentences.

"Calm down. Explain what is going on." I told him, patting his shoulder.

"Earthquakes. There are large-scale earthquakes going on right now. We were thinking it was maybe the machines, so we need help re-setting them." He said. I nodded, feeling a slight sense of nervousness. I entered, and sure enough we were getting readings of large-scale earthquakes. I quietly re-calibrated one of the machines, and reset the rest. It was still for a while, as was all of them. Then, just as I was about to turn to the scientist, the readings picked up again. I reset the machine I re-calibrated, and re-calibrated the rest. Again, the machine went silent for a while. Just as much time passed before it began to pick up on the readings.

"Well, uh, I guess we're getting a really bad earthquake." I said, scratching my head. I took out my notebook and jotted this down. As if on cue, a member of Night Vale radio came asking questions about this. I squinted at him.

_They always show up right when we discover something._ I jotted down, _And always asking about that exact thing we're researching or discover. Cecil always delivers the information as the next segment. Is it possible that Cecil knows what we're doing? If so, how? Samantha mentioned his eye tattoo. It was closed when we first met, but open when he chatted with me. Does that have something to do with this?_

"Carlos, what do we say?" One of the scientists whispered to me. I looked up from my notebook and adjusted my glasses.

"There have been extreme seismic shifts going on right below us that we should be feeling, but aren't." I said, "We double checked the machines, calibrated them, and we even reset them. They still give off the same reading. The strange part is nobody, not even I, can feel them."

"Should we be concerned?" He asked me.

"No, not yet. We'll try to deliver more information when we figure this out." I told him. The boy nodded and waved, stepping out. I closed my notebook and put it away.

"You think you can handle things here?" I asked. They nodded. I gave them a nod and headed out to the car. I got in and turned the car on. I sat in the car, motionless and still. Nervously, I turned on the radio.

_Carlos and his scientists at the monitoring station near Route 800 say their seismic monitors have been indicating wild seismic shifts — meaning to say that the ground should be going up and down all over the place. I don't know about you folks, but the ground has been as still as the crust of a tiny globe rocketing through an endless void could be. Carlos says that they've double-checked the monitors and they are in perfect working order. To put it plainly, there appears to be catastrophic earthquakes happening right here in Night Vale that absolutely no one can feel._

_Well, submit an insurance claim anyway. See what you can get, right?_

I turned the radio off again, quickly. My heart was pounding. I pulled out my notebook with a shaking hand. I tore out the page where I wrote about Cecil, and put that notebook away. I always carried two, so I pulled the second one out. I transcribed what I initially wrote, and made a new paragraph.

_Cecil did report on what we just told the boy from Night Vale community radio. How did he do that? Did the boy sprint? Obviously he had too little time to get back to the radio station from here, so something is definitely wrong, or at least strange. Come to think of it, the boy had purple eyes. I remember that Cecil had purple eyes too. Is Cecil psychic? The boy smelled faintly of Vanilla as well. That vanilla smell unnerves me. It doesn't seem natural. Why would he smell like that? I need to go check out the station. Later, during the break._

I looked up and sighed, pulling out of the monitoring station. I turned the radio on and ignored the music. I checked my watch as the sun set, and noticed it was off. Off by ten minutes. Right then I received a text from Samantha. I pulled over and checked it. She sent that Cecil stopped by, and had just left. She said that they found that the sun set ten minutes after it was supposed to.

_Welcome back, listeners._

_The sun didn't set at the correct time today, Carlos and his team of scientists report. They're quite certain about it. They checked multiple clocks and the sun definitely set ten minutes later than it was supposed to.__I asked them if they had any explanations but they did not offer anything concrete. Mostly they sat in a circle around a desk clock, staring at it, murmuring, and cooing._

_Still, we must be grateful to have the sun at all. It's easy to forget in this hot, hot, **hot** desert climate, but things would actually be slightly harder for us without the sun. The next time the sun rises, whatever time that turns out to be, take a moment to feel grateful for all the warmth and light and even, yes, extreme heat that our desert community is gifted with._

A chill ran down my spine. This time, I wasn't there. I drove quickly to the station. I'd packed a handheld radiation detector, and took it out. I walked up to the door and it began going crazy. I knocked, and an intern let me in. I walked to the booth where Cecil sat at his desk. It had everything neatly organized, and a microphone sitting on top of it. There was a photo next to the microphone on my right. There were various stacks of paper, labeled by story importance in a numerical order. Since ten was the closest pile to his right hand, I assumed he was right-handed and ten was the most important. He looked up from reading a story, and smiled. He began the public service announcement, and I stepped inside.

"Sorry for disturbing you." I told him. He waved his hand.

"The next story was pre-recorded. We do this so that I can take some breaks." He said. He stared at the machine I was holding in my hands. It was beeping more than it had been before. A chill ran down my spine again. Obviously the station was experiencing extreme radiation, but from what? I began to smell vanilla.

"What's this for?" He asked, pointing at the radiation detector. I didn't want to freak him out by telling him exactly what I was looking for, so I told him I was looking for materials. He tried to inquire more about them, but I walked to the microphone. It went bonkers, beeping out of control. This may be the point of radiation, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't take chances, tough.

"You need to evacuate…" I said, feeling intense worry and fear, "Now."

"But—." Cecil began to protest.

"I'm serious. This is dangerous." I told him. I quickly left, and got into the car. I drove away quickly, the radio still on. I was heading for the lab.

_Carlos, perfect and beautiful, came into our studios during the break earlier but declined to stay for an interview. He had some sort of blinking box in his hand covered with wires and tubes. Said he was testing the place for "materials." I don't know what materials he meant but that box sure whistled and beeped a lot. When he put it close to the microphone it sounded like, well, like a bunch of baby birds had just woken up. Really went crazy. Carlos looked nervous. I've never seen that kind of look on someone with that strong of a jaw. He left in a hurry. Told us to evacuate the building. But then, who would be here to talk to sweetly to all of you out there?_

_Settling in to be another clear night and pretty evening here in Night Vale. I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. Or, at least, good memories of when you did._

_Goodnight, listeners. Goodnight._


	2. Glow Cloud

**This story was inspired by the story ****_Welcome to Night Vale _****by cupidity11**

**This is Carlos/Cecil, rated T for possible adult themes and language (though I doubt I need it but it's better to be safe than sorry)**

**Are you enjoying the story so far? Let me know by writing a review. Want me to change something, or tweak a character? Again, leave it in the review section. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my story!**

* * *

I woke up in the morning with a start. I looked around a little, making sure I was still alive. I was in a motel room, one I had started renting. Then I began to question why I was freaking out, putting on my glasses. Obviously it shouldn't have bothered me. Why did it though? I looked at my notebook and opened it up. I re-read the passage about Cecil. It didn't seem to be from me, but I remembered writing it. Why was I—am I—so freaked out by him?

_Cecil, on the outside, seems to be a wonderful guy_, I added to the passage, _but something about the monotone he uses disturbs me slightly. He has no distinction in his voice when he talks about things that obviously should have emotion. But when I am mentioned, his voice is soft and sweet. Why __me__?_

Sighing, I closed the notebook. It was becoming more of a journal than an actual note-taking book. I stared at it for quite some time before just sighing. I might as well keep this going, since it was a good way for me to keep track of my thoughts. I stood up and stretched. As I did this I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked where I saw it, and nothing was there. I distinctly remembered a book being there before. It was one of my favorites, and it concerned me that it wasn't there. I picked up my journal and jotted down that the book had disappeared. I put on my watch and looked at the time. I checked the alarm clock next to me. It was a minute off. I blinked. My watch is an analog clock, meaning it's set to the exact time of whatever location I'm in. Meaning my watch would never be wrong. So, either I was imagining things, or this clock was off. I waited for the minute to pass, and it was exactly one minute behind my watch. I set the clock one minute ahead when the minute passed again, and sighed. I walked to the small kitchen in the hotel room and began to make myself some sort of breakfast. I felt something brush against my leg. I felt an intense chill as I looked down. It was just a stray cat. It mewed, as if expecting something. I picked up the cat and examined it, and it purred loudly. It rubbed its head against my shoulder, and I chuckled. The cat was an orange and black tabby, thin from not being fed often. I placed it on the counter. Judging by the body size and shape, I determined it was a tomcat. The cat stared at my bowl of cereal as I fixed myself another. I pushed the first bowl over to the cat. He looked up at me with dark green eyes, flicked his tail, and began to eat the cereal.

"I wonder how you got in." I mumbled idly. I scratched his ear. He purred as he ate. I looked up at the window. The window was broken, but it looked like it was broken from my side out.

"So that's how you got in." I told him. The cat had finished his cereal as I finished mine, and we just stared at each other for a while. He flicked his tail a few times, and I just chuckled.

"You know," I said, "I was always a cat person. I just always had dogs in the family."

The cat meowed in reply, and jumped down from the counter. I knew he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, since he took his place on the bed, on my pillow. He purred as he curled up. I stood up and headed for the shower. I stared at myself for a little in the mirror. I had some stubble and my black curly hair was getting long enough for me to pull it back into a ponytail. I took off my glasses and sighed. They were red, square glasses. I had black glasses, but those were the wrong prescription. Those were for a last resort. I sighed. My eyes were a dark grey, but they were basically black. I made a mental note to get a razor soon, since I needed to shave. I showered quietly, and dressed. I checked my phone that was now buzzing. It was Amber, another one of our scientists.

"Yeah?" I asked, putting my shoes and lab coat on.

"Samantha's going crazy." Amber said. In the background I could hear her yelling. I sighed.

"Why?" I asked. My tone sounded more frustrated than worried, which was by accident.

"She's still upset about the radio broadcast from yesterday." Amber said, chuckling a little, "She thinks Cecil is 'a creepy stalker who doesn't deserve you and he should end up with me' and blah, blah, blah."

"I see. Well I'll let her know when I'm interested." I said, chuckling. Amber laughed. She and I had met in college. She knew how I was about dating people within my occupation. It was a dangerous mixture, considering you couldn't exactly just leave the assignment you were on—unless it's this one of course. I walked back out to the main room after hanging up. The cat was watching the floor, flicking its tail. I sighed and waved to the little fellow before heading out the door. I turned around and saw a giant, glowing cloud in the sky. It confused me greatly. It was a dark purple. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed my eyes. The cloud was still there. I sighed, and headed to my car. The radio came to life.

_ …Although, I would not go so far as to endorse their suggestion to run directly at the cloud, shrieking and waving your arms, just to see what it does._

I drove to the lab, not trying to question too much about this town. When I got in, Samantha was sitting in a chair, frustrated. She looked up at me, and looked away from me. I sighed and went to my station, turning around in the chair.

"So what oddities are we looking for today?" I asked Amber. She checked the clipboard list we had started. She looked at the last one on the list and sighed.

"The microwave is causing food to explode." She said. I blinked.

"Frozen food or all food?" I asked. She sighed.

"Frozen food mostly. If we put in refrigerated food it depends on how cold it is. If we set it out and make it room-temperature we can microwave it." Justin said. I nodded. I glanced over at the fridge.

"I want to see what happens with water first." I said, getting up. The radio was on, and we all stopped when Cecil began his next segment.

_Here's something odd: there is a cat hovering in the men's bathroom at the radio station here. He seems perfectly happy and healthy, but it's floating about four feet off the ground next to the sink. Doesn't seem to be able to move from its current hover-spot. If you pet him, he purrs, and he'll rub on your body like a normal cat if you get close enough. Fortunately, because he's right by the sink, it was pretty easy to leave some water and food where he could get it, and it's nice to have a station pet._

I blinked. I was intensely confused, and turned to Amber.

"Write that down." I said. She nodded quickly and wrote. _Cecil and I have found cats today. Is this coincidence, or is this the town trying to do something to us? If I tell the others they're probably just going to say it's a coincidence and that I need to relax. This bothers me, though._ I wrote in my journal.

_Wish it wasn't trapped in a hovering prison in the men's bathroom, but listen: no pet is perfect. It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is._

"Why did you want me to write that down?" Amber asked, looking at me. I sighed.

"Today I found a cat in my hotel room." I said, "Also, I want to know if you can take the cat and move it around, or if it's just stuck there."

"Ah. Well, back to the microwave." Amber said. I nodded. Amber guided me to the microwave in question. It wasn't plugged in. I walked and grabbed one of our spare beakers and filled it up with water. I walked quietly to the freezer we had and put it in there. I closed the freezer and sighed.

_ The City Council, in cooperation with government agents from a vague yet menacing agency, is asking all citizens to stop by the Night Vale Elementary School gymnasium tonight at 7:00 for a brief questionnaire about mysterious sights that definitely no one saw and strange thoughts that in no way occurred to anyone. Because all of us are normal, and to be otherwise would make us outcasts from our own community._

_ Remember: if you see something, say nothing. And drink to forget._

Amber sighed. I looked at her. I saw a blush across her cheeks. She closed her eyes and sighed again, one that sounded more like longing than frustration.

"Do we have to go to that?" She asked. I shook my head.

"We're not technically citizens. The full brunt of the rules apply after one year, if we stay that long. Most of what is said on the radio about stuff citizens have to do can be ignored." I told her, folding my arms across my chest.

"While we wait," I added, "What else do we have on the list that we can check out really quickly?"

"Well," Justin said, holding the clipboard, "I wrote the Glow Cloud on my list. I wanted to go do what the secret police were saying to do, since I've heard that nobody has done this before."

"I don't think that's—."I started. A thud was heard just outside. Then another. A third, then fourth, then fifth. It sounded like it was raining. I walked to the window. I saw small animals raining down from the sky, some of them bloody, while others showed parts of their internal organs. I felt sick. I closed my eyes tightly and gagged, covering my mouth with my right hand. I walked slowly away from the window. I sat on one of the nearest tables I found with my left. I breathed slowly. Amber came and began to rub my arm. I opened my eyes and looked at her. I gave her a weak smile.

"This is why I'm not a vet or a doctor."I said.

"Why?" Justin asked. This obviously didn't bother him. I sighed. I gave him a look, and he picked up on it, softly saying "oh" while looking out of the window. I sighed again and shook my head. I looked back at Samantha, who was just quiet. She was watching the ground.

"What's wrong?" I asked her finally. She looked up at me. She sighed.

"I just… I think this town is getting to me." She said. I nodded. There were now several people in the room.

"How many others are having the town affect them?" I asked. They all turned.

"That's a strange question." David asked.

"How many of you are feeling like I am? Like something is wrong, but they can't place their finger on it? How many of you are hearing someone whispering in your ear, telling you to leave?" Samantha suddenly shrieked. In a panic, I looked back at her. She grabbed a clipboard and began to charge for the nearest scientist. That was, unfortunately, me. Suddenly she froze. She blinked a few times, and then lowered the clipboard. She turned her gaze skyward.

"All hail." She whispered. She then collapsed to the ground, twitching. I stood there in mostly shock, and we all watched in confusion.

"I don't feel like _that._" David said, giving an uncomfortable laugh. I felt myself break into a smile, despite this serious situation. I heard Amber giggle. Richard was laughing. Thomas was even laughing. I suddenly broke into laughter. If people from the outside were looking in, I'm pretty sure they would think we were insane. Maybe this would have helped us fit in. I'm not sure. The man on the radio suddenly got my attention.

_The Glow Cloud does not need to converse with us. It does not feel as we tiny humans feel. It has no need for thoughts or feelings of love._

I felt fear for Cecil. What was wrong with him?

_The Glow Cloud simply is._

This did _not_ sound like Cecil. Who was this imposter?

_ All hail the mighty Glow Cloud!_

Why would Cecil be praising the cloud that glows in the sky, now dubbed the Glow Cloud? What's wrong with him?!

_ All hail!_

He must be feeling what Samantha felt. Were they connected in some way?

_And now, slaves of the Cloud, the weather._

"Carlos, is something wrong?" Thomas asked me. He sounded genuinely concerned, which snapped me out of it. I shook my head.

"Were you listening to that?" I asked him.

"The radio? Kinda." He answered.

"That didn't sound normal." I said. I walked to Samantha and lightly touched her arm. She stirred slightly. I inspected her causally, but noticed nothing wrong. She gently woke up, and stared at me. A bright red blush formed over her face. I sighed, standing up. I took out my notebook.

_Samantha and Cecil both gave hail to the Glow Cloud._ I wrote, _Since she said the same thing as him, could he be psychic? Either that, or the Cloud just possessed them both. I doubt that though._

I went to the freezer and checked on the water. It wasn't completely frozen, so I just closed the freezer. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and listened to the thumps of dead animals. I realized my car was probably damaged to no end now. I sighed, and walked to the door. I braced myself, and opened it. The vans were okay, which was awesome, but the car was in shambles. The windshield was broken, the roof dented, the back window was broken, and dead animals littered the inside of the car. I winced.

"What's wrong?" Thomas asked. I carefully took the key to the car off of my key ring and handed it to Thomas. He took it gratefully.

"If you don't see the problem, obviously that means you deserve it." I told him calmly, patting his shoulder. I walked back inside, to catch what Cecil was saying next.

_Sorry, listeners. Not sure what happened in that earlier section of the broadcast—as in I actually _don't remember _what happened. Tried to play back the tapes, but they're all blank, and smell faintly of vanilla._

I knew it. Something was wrong there. But, it could have been me smelling something, like I was sort of predicting the event.

_The Glow Cloud, meanwhile, has moved on. It is now just a glowing spot in the distance, humming east to destinations unknown. We may never fully understand, or understand at all what it was and why it dumped a lot of dead animals on our community._

I smirked at Justin. Now I guess he couldn't go running at it now.

_But, and I'm going to get a little personal here, that's the essence of life, isn't it?_

_ Sometimes you go through things that seem huge at the time, like a mysterious glowing cloud devouring your entire community._

I walked to Samantha, missing the next few things Cecil said.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her. She stared at me blankly.

"Confused. I don't remember what happened." She said. I nodded, and smiled at her.

"That's not important right now. Do you want to stay here?" I asked her. She nodded intensely. I sighed.

"Why would I want to leave?" She asked me. A trace of something in her voice deeply crept me out. I stood up quickly and took a couple steps away from her. She smiled, and I shivered intensely.

_Goodnight, listeners. Goodnight._


	3. Station Management

**This story was inspired by the story ****_Welcome to Night Vale _****by cupidity11**

**This is Carlos/Cecil, rated T for possible adult themes and language (though I doubt I need it but it's better to be safe than sorry)**

**Are you enjoying the story so far? Let me know by writing a review. Want me to change something, or tweak a character? Again, leave it in the review section. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my story!**

* * *

I woke up to Gregory pawing my face. I sat up and sighed, stretching. It had been a couple of weeks since Samantha tried to attack me. Gregory meowed impatiently. It was about noon now, and I'd overslept by about six hours, had I not taken the day off.

"Calm down." I told him, softly scratching behind his ear. He purred loudly and rubbed his head against my arm. I got up and looked around. I'd gotten a little apartment for myself, that obviously allowed pets, and it was nice. It was very cozy. I moved in late last night, just so that I could call someplace home, and because I was already planning on taking today off. I stood up and scratched my head. I walked to my desk and grabbed my glasses. I slipped them on and sighed, looking around. It was a little bare, but it functioned perfectly. I felt something wrap around my ankle. I glanced down at a tentacle-like appendage. I screamed and it tugged me. I fell to the ground, kicking at it. I couldn't see what was attacking me. Gregory gave a lion-like roar—for a housecat, at least— and jumped down from the bed. He dove under the bed and began to bite. As he distracted whatever-it-was that was attacking me, I managed to get myself free. I darted to the little kitchen and grabbed one of the knives from a knife set Old Woman Josie gave me. I was grabbed again by the tentacle, and dragged out of the kitchen. Gregory had dragged the thing out, and it was a book. My favorite book, that is. I stared in a fearful confusion, as I stabbed the tentacle holding me. I cut it off, and I didn't hesitate before getting onto my knees and arching the knife downward, striking the book. It gave a shrill cry, and fell limp. Gregory came to me, hissing at the book. He backed away slowly, as did I. I grabbed my phone and texted Amber that my book attacked me, and that she needed to look into that immediately. She replied by simply texting 'already on it', like she was preoccupied with something. I felt Gregory flick his tail lightly against my leg. I sighed, and went to make us breakfast. He never ate regular cat food. He only ate whatever cereal I'd made for myself. I flicked the radio on, just to see what Cecil was saying today.

_Listeners, we are currently fielding numerous reports that books have _stopped working._ It seems that all over Night Vale, books have simply ceased functioning. The scientists are studying one of the broken books to see if they can understand just what is going on here._

"So that's what you meant." I mumbled, glancing at my phone. Gregory purred when I mumbled, and he came and rubbed up against me. I snickered and pet him. I finished my breakfast, and stood up. I walked to the mirror I kept in the bathroom. I had to keep my hair in a ponytail since it was so damn hot in this desert.

"That's it." I told Gregory, "I'm getting this hair cut."

He meowed in reply, as if asking to get one too. I smiled. He was also getting pretty shaggy. I showered and dressed, picking up Gregory as I left the apartment. I saw a couple of citizens, who waved excitedly to me. I waved back at them, very cautious. I got in the new car I'd bought, and placed Gregory in it. He jumped into the backseat and curled up. He did this like he was expecting someone else to sit there. I closed the door and started the car.

"Nobody sits there, you know." I told him. He gave me a look. His look seemed to say 'oh yea? Well there will be soon.'. I shook my head and started to drive towards the barber shop I saw. I pulled into the parking lot, and I saw several people looking at me. Their expressions seemed worried. I shook my head and got out. I held the door for Gregory to jump out, and then closed it. He kept close to me like he was a dog. I thought this was odd, but he was going to get his hair cut. He trotted in before me, since I opened the door for him. Telly, the barber, glanced over at me. He smiled. The smile faded, and fear came creeping in replacement. I began to feel it too. My chest tightened and I glanced towards the radio. Is he safe? What's going on? Is he in danger? Would he be in danger? Could he be right now!? Where is Cecil?

The fear passed though, and I was left relaxed. And embarrassed. Why was I so concerned about someone I barely know?

"Why'd you come here, Carlos? And who's your little friend?" Telly asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"We came in for a haircut. And the little guy is Gregory. He's this stray that snuck into my hotel room with me, and I've just kept him. He has a collar." I told him, smiling.

"Did he get his parts chopped off yet?" Telly asked me. I winced. Such a crude way of asking if he was neutered.

"He was when he came in." I told him. Telly nodded. He called over one of his assistants, and pointed to the cat.

"Groom the little guy, will you?" He asked. The kid nodded.

"What do you want to do with him?" The kid asked me. I shrugged.

"He just needs his hair tamed, I guess. If you want to pamper him go ahead, but you don't have to if you don't want to." I said, scratching my head. The kid smiled. He picked up Gregory, who gave soft hisses instead of his usual purrs.

"Does he hiss at you when you pick him up?" Telly asked me, directing me into a chair. I sat, and had the drape put around my neck.

"Not usually, no. He purrs." I told Telly. Telly nodded, and took my hair out of its ponytail. It was to my shoulders, and it was very curly. I focused on the premature grays and sighed. I began to think about my ex-wife. She had been so frustrating she made me grey around the temples. We'd often fought about money, like most couples. She would spend the money I made for my education. Married at eighteen…what was I even thinking?

"Wha do you want to do today?" He asked. I sighed. I figured that since I was in the desert, I might as well cut my hair short. Keeping my hair the way it was would be too damn hot, and I wasn't about to overheat just because it looked pretty okay. It's not like I was going to a photo shoot, anyway.

"Short." I said simply. Telly smiled, and nodded. It was probably nice to have someone just give him a simple response than a complicated hairstyle requirement.

"Are you sure? Your boyfriend might be devastated." He asked. I felt a vast confusion. My boyfriend?"

"Who?" I asked, looking at him through the mirror. He smiled and shook his head. He began to chuckle. He picked up the scissors.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, holding his breath.

* * *

I was sitting on my couch with Gregory sitting next to me. He was cozy and content, and I was too, though Telly went a little too short. I was texting with my mother when the radio stopped me dead.

_Two hawk-eyed listeners sent in reports that Carlos, our curious scientific visitor, was seen getting his beautiful, _beautiful_ hair cut. He was having his gorgeous hair _shorn_! Cut! Cut short! So very short from his perfectly-shaped brilliant head!_

_ Listeners, I am not one to gossip even if it _is_ a local celebrity, but please explain to me why Carlos would strip away—decimate!—any part of his thick black hair… not to ignore the dignified, if premature, touch of gray in the temples._

Was it really that much of a crime to Cecil?

"Jesus Christ." I whispered.

_ What treacherous barber should agree to such depravity? Who takes mere money, or even soulless joy, in depriving our small community of such a simple, but important, act as luridly admiring Carlos's stunning coif?_

_ Reports from tow intrepid sources are that it was Telly the Barber. Telly, who likes _sports_ and has posters of _combs._ Telly the Barber seems to be the one who betrayed our community._

"Betrayed?" I repeated silently. The guilt flooded in. I'd asked him to cut my hair. What would happen to Telly? I had no idea, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen.

**_Telly the Barber._**

_ It is Telly the Barber at the corner of Southwest 5__th__ Street and Old Musk Road, with the red and white spinning pole and the sign that says, "Telly's". Telly is about 5'9" with a small mustache and thick pot belly. He talks with an accent and _sneers._ Telly the Barber cut Carlos's beautiful hair. According to reports. __**Telly.**_

"I asked him to." I whispered. I lowered my gaze to my thighs and sighed. Cecil's voice calmed as he gave the traffic report, but I was still feeling anxious. I glanced over at Gregory, who was eyeing me. He didn't seem to blame me; in fact he looked worried too. He flicked his tail and stood up anxiously. His ears plastered to his head, and he arched his back. I looked at him. He was watching the window. I stood up and walked to the window, looking out of it, too. I had a perfect view of the Community Radio building, where Gregory was looking. He hissed loudly, fur standing up on end. He looked like he was about to leap out. I tried to grab him and pull him away from the open window, since I saw nothing, and he scratched me. He hissed at me, and then looked back at the building. I rubbed my hand. Suddenly, he leapt down from the windowsill and charged toward the door and meowed loudly.

"No, you can't go out!" I told him. He hissed again, scratching at the door now. I sighed and looked at my phone again when it buzzed. I answered my mom, but when I looked up Gregory was gone. I looked at the window. I sighed and I was about to grab my coat.

_Hello, radio audience. I come to you live from under my desk, where I dragged my microphone and am currently hiding in the fetal position. Did you write letters? Then you should not do this anymore. Station management has opened its door for the first time in my memory, and is now _roaming the building._ I don't know exactly what management looks like, as that is when I took cover under my desk and I can only hope that they are not listening to what's going out right now or else I may have sealed my fate._

My heart stopped. Cecil is in trouble?

_I can hear only a kind of clicking footstep, and faint hissing sound like – releasing steam._

Gregory. He must have gone there to help him. But why?

_An intern went into what management wanted and has not returned. If you are related to Jerry Hartman, afternoon board operator at Night Vale Community Radio, I am sorry to inform you that he is probably dead or at least corporeally absorbed into management permanently! Jerry and Chad the interns will both be missed, but we will surely see them in the Thanksgiving Day Dead Citizens Impersonation Contest, which this year will be in the employee lounge under the Night Vale Mall from 11:00 AM to 9:45 PM. There will be a cash bar and two Twister boards._

I began to feel very anxious. I sat down, and stared at my radio. I don't know why I didn't high tail it over there to see if I could help what was wrong, or at least try to save Cecil, but I just sat watching the radio.

_I am going to see if I can make a break for the door. If you don't hear from me again, it has truly been a pleasure. Good night, Night Vale. And goodbye!_

I sat listening to nothing for a while before shutting off my radio. I began to feel nauseous. I told my mother I'd contact her later, and that something had come up. I got up and walked out the door, heading quickly outside. I made my way quickly to the radio station. There was a crowd standing there, waiting anxiously. After five minutes, they began to file away. I sensed that everything was over as well, but I remained there. Cecil exited the building, holding Gregory. He placed Gregory on the ground, who ran to me. I caught him as he jumped into my arms and turned on my heels. I deeply considered going and talking to Cecil, but I couldn't bring myself to. I thought I'd just dive into his arms. Which was strange, since I barely knew him. I sighed and got back up to my apartment and closed the door. I leaned against it, letting Gregory jump down from my arms. I walked into my room and grabbed my journal and began to write all of these feelings down.


End file.
